This State Storms Into the Spotlight

GAMES OF THE WEEK

It’s not even close this weekend: The state of Florida has all the juice.

Not even Hurricane Floyd dared to mess this up.

There are two marquee matchups, Penn State at Miami and Tennessee at Florida, plus a pretty decent second bill, North Carolina State at top-ranked Florida State.

Victories by Florida, Florida State and Miami would leave the Sunshine State with three teams ranked in the top five, confirming the stone-cold obvious: As a state, Florida’s got game.

Quick breakdowns:

* Tennessee at Florida: The Volunteers ended a five-game losing streak against the Gators last season on their way to the national title, leaving Florida Coach Steve Spurrier flummoxed.

“At some point,” he said this week, “you realize you’re not going to win them all.”

Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin is 14-0 as a starter since replacing Peyton Manning, but the Volunteers are 0-6 at Gainesville since 1971. “The Swamp” is arguably the most inhospitable environment for opponents in college football, more so when Gators are seeking revenge.

Line: Florida by 2 1/2.

* Penn State at Miami: Penn State looked unbeatable until Pittsburgh almost beat the Nittany Lions last weekend in Happy Valley. Most disturbing stat in Penn State’s 20-17 squeaker: Joe Paterno’s club rushed for only 65 yards in 41 carries against the Panthers. Miami Coach Butch Davis suspects Penn State might have diluted the offense thinking it could beat Pitt and not show Miami its hand, but Paterno claims, “We weren’t holding anything back.”

Line: Penn State by 2 1/2.

* North Carolina State at Florida State: Another redemption game. Wolfpack handed the Seminoles only their second Atlantic Coast Conference defeat last year, but you could hang that on a six-interception effort by quarterback Chris Weinke, who didn’t throw another interception the rest of the season.

Line: Florida State by 28.

RATING THE TV GAMES

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** Fix the car tomorrow

** OK to watch golf infomercials

* For WWF scouts only.

** Kentucky (1-1) at Indiana (1-1), 9 a.m., ESPN

We’d like this game a lot more if it were basketball.

Line: Indiana by 7 1/2.

** Boston College (1-0) at Navy (1-1), 9 a.m., FSW

Because of Floyd, this game may be played on a ship deck.

Line: Boston College by 7.

** West Virginia (1-1) at Maryland (2-0), 9 a.m., ESPN2

Maryland thinks it could contend for I-AA title after beating Temple and Western Carolina.

Line: West Virginia by 6 1/2.

** Baylor (0-2) at Oklahoma (1-0), 9:30 a.m., FSW2

Would rather watch the last minute of Baylor versus Notre Dame.

Line: Oklahoma by 12.

*** Michigan State (2-0) at Notre Dame (1-2), 11:30 a.m., Channel 4

Irish tried to switch game time at last minute but botched it.

Line: Notre Dame by 6 1/2.

** Wisconsin (2-0) at Cincinnati (1-1), 12:15 p.m., FSW

Last chance to see Ron Dayne pile up yards before Michigan drills him.

Line: Wisconsin by 25 1/2.

*** Auburn (2-0) at Louisiana State (2-0), 2 p.m., ESPN

LSU’s team captain nabbed this week for purse snatching. Hey, who swiped my remote?

Line: LSU by 8 1/2.

** Air Force (1-0) at Washington (0-1), 3:30 p.m., FSW

Another dreaded Pac-10 matchup against upstart Mountain West Conference.

Line: Washington by 4.

** Wake Forest (1-0) at Virginia (1-1), 4 p.m., ESPN2

Name of the impact player in this one: Floyd.

Line: Virginia by 10 1/2.

** Stanford (1-1) at No. 19 Arizona (2-1), 7 p.m., FSW

Pac-10 leader Stanford (?) tries to hold off challenger Arizona (?).

Line: Arizona by 13 1/2.

* Boise State (1-1) at Hawaii (1-1), 10:30 p.m., FSW2

This game will be tape-delayed, but not nearly long enough.

Line: Boise State by 6 1/2.

5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Idaho hosting Washington State at Pullman? Yep. Because it needs to average 17,000 fans a game this year to attain Division I-A status, Idaho is playing all its home games at 30,000-seat Martin Stadium, even this weekend’s game against Washington State. Confused? “We’re wearing the white jerseys, and we get our locker room,” Cougar Coach Mike Price quipped this week. The way Price’s team is playing, it’s better off being the visitor.

2. The Dennis Erickson factor. Shocker note of the week: Oregon State has the longest winning streak among Pac-10 schools, three games. The Beavers ended last season beating Oregon, and are 2-0 to start 1999. With a victory over Division I-AA Georgia Southern this week, Oregon State will be 3-0 for the first time since 1963 and well on its way, dare we say, to its first winning season since 1970.

3. Wake Forest springs a leak. C.J. Leak, the school’s prized freshman quarterback, is expected to play this week against Virginia, which was about as inevitable as a sunrise. In last year’s recruiting stunner, Leak chose Wake Forest over Notre Dame when Demon Deacon Coach Jim Caldwell also promised Leak’s ninth-grade brother a scholarship.

4. LaVar Arrington going off the deep end. The incredibly talented Penn State linebacker might have been a perfect fit for Miami in the late 1980s, but his act is growing old. Last week, he took cheap shots at Pittsburgh players and drew consecutive personal-foul penalties. Hardly the image Joe Paterno-coached players have projected.

5. Lou Holtz’s home debut. Is this the week South Carolina posts its first victory for Holtz? Not so fast. The Gamecocks’ offense has managed only a touchdown and a field goal in two losses, whereas East Carolina comes to Columbia at 2-0, having beaten West Virginia and Duke. If you’re keeping overall tabs, South Carolina has lost 12 in a row.